The Three Stooges of JobTrain
by movieNcartoons
Summary: The Three Stooges are down in their luck. After another failed attempt to make some money, Moe, Larry and Curly found themselves enrolled in JobTrain's Culinary Arts Course, where they meet some some friendly chefs and a certain long-haired girl, while learning that confidence, teamwork, and friendship are the ultimate recipes for success.
1. No Ice Cream 4 U

**Author's Note:**

 **The story you are about to read is based on my imagination. You see, I was attending a 20-week cooking class at JobTrain in Menlo Park, and during my time on the course, I imagine that the Three Stooges are part of the cooking crew. Also, "Tangled' was just around the corner by the time my 20 weeks were up.**

 **So please note that even though it's a "Three Stooges/Tangled" crossover, this takes place in Menlo Park, not the kingdom of Corona.**

 **And now without further ado, I present to you, the prequel to the upcoming (pretend) film, "Nathan Rosenberg: JobTrainee," "The Three Stooges of JobTrain!"**

* * *

 **T** he place, Menlo Park. The time, mid-March 2010. Spring was in full blossom and everyone was hard at work.

Well, at least three of them were trying to.

An ice-cream truck drove around town looking for customers. A sign on both sides of the truck read "Ice Cream 4 U."

"Mommy, Mommy, I want ice cream." a little boy said to his mother, whom he pulled towards the truck.

The window flew open, revealing ice cream men Moe and Larry.

"Howdy do, lady." greeted Moe. "What can we do for you?"

"One ice cream cone for my son, please." said the mother.

"Which flavor would you like, sonny?" asked Moe.

"Cookies and cream! Cookies and cream!" said the little boy.

"One cookies and cream it is, then" said Larry. "Hey, Curly! One scoop of cookies and cream on the double!"

There was no response.

"Hey, puddin' head!" Moe called out.

This time, he heard a moan coming from the back of the truck.

"Will you excuse us for a moment?" Larry asked the mother.

He and Moe went to the back of the truck where they found Curly on the floor.

"I don't feel so good, fellas." he said to Moe and Curly as he resumed moaning.

Moe examined the ice cream chest, only to find it filled with empty cartons.

"Did you eat all the ice cream?" he asked Curly angrily.

"It wasn't me," said Curly as he tried to get up. "My tummy made me do it."

"Oh, so it was your stomach, eh?" said Moe as he punched Curly in the stomach and slapped him silly.

"Nice going, you numbskull!" he said. "Now we have no ice cream to give that little kid."

"Wait, you're out of ice cream?" asked the mother.

Realizing she heard everything from the open window, the boys quick closed it and drove away as fast as they could.

"Wait! Stop!" the mother called out.

* * *

At Cafe Borrone, Stan, a royal guard was placing a napkin into his armor, much to his fellow co-guard, Pete's annoyance.

"I'm aware it's not protocol, Pete." he said. "I just happen to think it highlights my mustache."

Just then, the guards heard a little boy crying. They hurried to where the mommy and her son were.

"What seems to be the trouble?" asked Pete.

"They ate my ice cream!" cried the little boy.

"Who ate your ice cream, little fella?" asked Stan.

"Those ice cream men ate all the ice cream and drove off without any explanation." explained the mother.

"Don't worry, ma'am." said Pete. "We'll bring those ice cream-eating vandals to justice."

"Let's ride!" exclaimed Stan.


	2. Stooges for Hire

Larry drove the ice cream truck as fast as he could when he spotted two men riding on horseback from the rear view mirror.

"Fellas, we've got company!" he said to Moe and Curly, who looked through the back window.

"Unh-unh-unh!" exclaimed Curly. "It's the fuzz! What do we do, Moe?"

"Only one thing we can do." said Moe as he opened the back door and called out. "Take _him_ , officers! He ate all the ice cream!"

Stan and Pete readied their crossbows and prepared to aim, but Curly quick closed the door just before the arrows were shot.

"Get back out there!" threatened Moe. "You ate all the ice cream, you have to pay the price."

"You can't fire me." said Curly. "Because I quit."

"Oh, a rebel, eh?" said Moe before he poked Curly in the eyes while Curly retaliated by butting Moe in the stomach.

"Hey!" shouted Larry. "Don't make me turn this truck around, 'cause I _will_."

For a moment, Moe and Curly didn't do anything until Curly stuck his tongue out at Moe, who retaliated by pretending to shop off his tongue.

"That's it, you asked for it." said Larry as he tried to turn the truck around.

But just then, a car bumped into the ice cream truck, causing it to flip over and over until it got back in its tires, which screeched to a halt next to a building. The sign over the entrance read _"JobTrain. Job Training That Works. Formerly OICW."_

Moe, Larry and Curly hopped out of the ice cream truck and ran around the back of JobTrain just before Stan and Pete arrived.

* * *

Once around back, Moe spotted an open door.

"Quick, in here!" he said to Larry and Curly.

All three stooges barged through the door which led to a kitchen, unknowingly running into a chef, causing him to go crashing into one of the kitchen work stations and falling onto the floor, knocking down a canister set that is on a shelf above, hitting him in the head with the sound of a xylophone as they hit him in the head.

Infuriated, the chef got up on his feet and growled at the boys. "This is the last roasta. And now, before I go..."

He reached out for a butcher knife and threw it towards them.

The knife hit Curly's ice cream hat right out his head.

Something red fell from one of the cabinets and began to drip on Curly.

Unh-unh-unh-unh!'" panicked Curly. "Hey, Moe! Moe, what does blood smell like?"

Some of the "blood" fell onto Curly's face, in which he licked most of it off. "Mm, not bad. Tastes like ketchup."

Moe then noticed the upper cabinet and a dripping ketchup bucket.

"It _is_ ketchup, you numbskull." he said to Curly.

"Not enough, huh?" said the chef as he pulled out another knife. "I'm gonna kill you."

The chef chased the boys all over the kitchen when Curly noticed a slightly prepared cake in one of the work stations.

Moe and Larry are also looking at it. They are "deciding" what needs to be added to it. He is waving his finger at the chef while Larry and Moe are shaking their heads in dismay at the chef, who then bent over to see what was wrong with his cake. Curly then looked at Moe and Larry with total mischief on his face, shook his head, and pointed to the cake. Moe and Larry agree with Curly. Then they shove the chef's face into the batter, and gave him a quick face washing, and slapped him on the head.

The chef rose up from the cake batter and wiped some of it off his eyes just as Mother Gothel, the self-proclaimed CEO of JobTrain, burst through the door.

"What's going on here?" she said as she hurried towards the kitchen. "Class is about to start and you're out here playing a game!"

"Games!" repeated the chef. "Madame, I quit!"

Gothel became flabbergasted upon hearing his words. "Quit? You can't quit. What about today's lesson?"

"Today's lesson is-a cancelled." snapped the chef as he headed to the door. "I quit! Quit! Quit Quit! Quit!"

Gothel tried to stop him "Wait, you can't just-"

But the chef had already slammed the door on his way out.

"Oh, great." said Gothel as she palmed her face. "Now I'm the bad guy."

Moe, Larry and Curly looked at each other for a moment, then looked at the kitchen.

That's when an idea struck. If they can't make a living by selling ice cream, maybe they can do so by being chefs.

They turned to Gothel as Moe said. "Fret no more, lady. We can cook for you."

Gothel let out a scoff. "You, cook for me?"

"Sointenly!" replied Curly "We'll cook you a dinner that's the talk of the town, also the county!"

"Well, do any of you have what it takes to work in a commercial kitchen?" asked Gothel.

"No, no, no." said Moe. "But we can learn from the best."

"Come what may." added Larry.

"Ad infinitum." added Curly.

Moe and Larry looked at him with confusion in their faces.

At that moment, Gothel heard some talking coming from the hall. Class was about to begin.

She let out a sigh and turned to the boys.

"Well, it's too late for interviews." she said. "Let's see if you really _can_ learn from the best."

As Gothel went to talk to the head chef, Larry turned to Moe and asked. "Do we know how to cook?"

"Do we?" replied Moe.

"Do we?" repeated Curly


	3. Meet the Chefs

Before long, the classroom was filled with those learning to become chefs.

Adam Weiner, the head chef, stepped out of his office with his sous chef, Bertha and Gothel beside him and clapped his hands together.

"May I have your attention, please?" he said. "We have three new recruits joining us this morning, so let's all give a warm round of applause for..."

"I'm Moe." said Moe.

"I'm Larry." said Larry.

"I'm Curly." said Curly.

The chefs-to-be clapped their hands as Gothel whispered something into Chef Adam's ear.

"Now I want you all to make them feel right at home until I come out." he said as he walked back to his office with Gothel and Bertha following him.

The chefs-to-be walked up to Moe, Larry and Curly.

"So, you must be the new guys." said an young woman.

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Moe.

"Looks like we got our work cut out for us." said another woman. "Well, Moe, Larry and Curly, meet the rest of the gang. The name's Vickie. This is Krishna, Robert, J.J..."

"What's up?" greeted J.J.

While Vickie went on introducing the rest of the chefs-to-be, Curly felt something wet in his ear. He looked down and saw a chameleon sticking out his tongue.

"Unh-unh-unh! It's a frog!" he shrieked.

"Hold still, I'll get him off ya!" said Larry as he prepare to swat the chameleon.

"No, no, no, no, wait!" shouted Vickie.

But Larry had already swatted the chameleon.

Luckily, a humongous wig broke his flight.

"Unh-unh-unh!" said the boys.

The chameleon slid down the wig and into the hands of another young woman.

"I see you've met Pascal." she said.

"Oh, and Marie Antoinette over there is Rapunzel." said Krishna.

Thinking she sneezed, Curly said. "Gesundheit."

"No, no, no, no," said Rapunzel as she pulled out her wig, revealing her long hair all bundled up. "That's my name, Rapunzel."

Larry let out a whistle. "And a lovely name it is at that."

"Aw, thank you." replied Rapunzel.

Curly got down on his knee and took Rapunzel's hand. "Well, may I just say " _enchanté , señorita"_ to you? May I?"

He then kissed her hand passionately until a jealous Moe grabbed him by the coat.

"Enough with the smooching, Casanova." he said. "What are ya trying to do, make us look bad?"

"You just did." said a voice.

Everyone turned to see Gothel with her arms crossed, not too happy with what she was seeing.

"Scram, lady." said Curly. "You're interferring with romance."

"Which is against the work code." added Chef Adam.

"Against the work code?" repeated Moe. "What are you yapping about, chefy?"

"You of all people should know that falling in love with co-workers is not allowed in the workforce." explained Gothel. "Especially with _my daughter._ "

"Your daughter?" exclaimed Moe, Larry and Curly, who looked at Rapunzel, who said to them. "Yeah, I know. It's complicated."

"The Dragon Lady makes everything complicated for us." explained Krishna.

"I would appreciate it if you didnt call me that." said Gothel.

"Why not? You have the colors of a dragon, don't you?" replied Krishna. "No wonder you look like one."

The chefs-to-be laughed and laughed.

"That's funny because it's true!" commented Robert.

Chef Adam and Bertha began to chuckle as well. But Gothel didn't think it was that funny. One scowl from her made the trainees stop laughing.

"You're skating on thin ice, Crystal." sneered Gothel.

"It's Krishna."

"Whatever." said Gothel. "And that goes for the rest of you lazy bums if you don't stop acting like hyenas and get to work."

"Who are you calling lazy?" asked Larry.

 _"All of you!"_ snapped Gothel. "And if any of you has a problem with it, you can step forward right now."

The chefs-to-be stepped back, leaving Curly to face Gothel himself.

"Well," said Gothel, "What have _you_ got to say?"

"Go ahead, champ." Moe whispered to Curly. "Show her who's boss."

Curly tried running in place and snapping his fingers, but Gothel grabbed hold of his hand and nearly broke it. Curly barked like a dog at her, but Gothel retaliated by hissing like a cat, scaring Moe, Larry and Curly.

Gothel let out a humph and walked out of the room.

The chefs-to-be said nothing and looked to the boys.

"Relax," said Krishna. "You're not the only ones who hate her."

* * *

Outside of JobTrain, Stan and Pete were describing the scene of the crime to the royal captian of the guards.

"There's nothing in there but some empty ice cream barrells." explained Stan.

"They must've known we were coming and ran off." added Pete.

"No matter. We have an even bigger fish to fry*." said the captain aboard his trusty horse, Maximus "Move out!"

The captain and his men rode their horses out of JobTrain just as Gothel passed through the lobby, hearing the horses neigh in the distance.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 ***The bigger fish to be fried the captain was referring to was Flynn Rider, who** **unfortunately is not part of this story, since this is a prequel to "Nathan Rosnberg: JobTrainee."**


	4. Hard at Work-Yeah, Right

Over the next few weeks, Moe, Larry and Curly did nothing but mess up in their own way while working in the kitchen.

One time, when a chef came in for a lesson, he noticed that a whole meat of lamb was missing.

"Does anyone know where the meat of lamb is?' he asked the chefs-to-be, who turned to see Moe, Larry and Curly cooking in on the grill.

"Hey, how do you like your lamb, medium rare or well done?" asked Larry.

The chefs-to-be only glared at them for ruining their lesson for the day.

* * *

Another time, Moe caught Larry and Curly looking at an oven.

"What are you muttonheads up to?" he demanded.

"We were just watching the best part of _The Bread Show._ " said Curly.

Moe looked in the oven to see the bread slowly rising, then turned to Larry and Curly.

"Well, get back over there and clean those dishes." he ordered as he pointed at the sink.

"Can't we see the rest of the show first?" asked Larry.

But Moe didn't care. He grabbed Larry and Curly by their coats and dragged them towards the sink.

"Now get busy!"

With that taken care of, Moe went on to continue his cooking.

"Now, let me see. What's next?" he said to himself as he examined the recipe he was working on. "Oh, yeah, A spalsh of milk."

He reached out for a milk carton. "Uh...splash!"

As he did so in the bowl, he recieved a spalsh of his own. Or in this case, a blast of water sprayed out by Curly.

"Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk." he chuckled, giving Larry a high-five.

* * *

Gothel even noticed the boys sleeping on the tables every day.

One day, she requested a private conversation with Chef Adam in his office.

"Never in all my years inside JobTrain have I had to deal with a trio of unteachable morons!" she said.

"Look, I agree they may be moronic," said Chef Adam. "But you know these things take time. And patience."

"Yes, well, _my_ patience is wearing thin with these dodos fooling around." said Gothel.

"Patience is a virtue, Gothel." reminded Chef Adam.

"Well, not in this case, Weiner!" snapped Gothel. "Now, either you do something with those infiltile men, or I shall remove them from the course."

* * *

Outside the office, Rapunzel was working on the finishing touches on her cake, with Pascal's help, of course.

"I'd say this might be our best one yet, wouldn't you, Pascal?" she said.

Pascal squeaked in agreement.

"And now, for the pièce de résistance." Rapunzel said as she placed a white chocolate sculpture of Pascal on top of the cake.

"Nicely done, Rapunzel." commented Vickie upon seeing the finished cake.

The other chefs agreed with Vickie and marvled at Rapunzel's cake.

"Say, Raps." said Krishna. "Have you ever considered getting a job at some of the local bakeries in town?"

"Oh, I would, Krishna, if Mother would let me." replied Rapunzel. "By the way, I wonder how Moe, Larry and Curly are doing with _their_ cake."

At that moment, she and the other chefs heard some hissing air.

"Guess that's our answer." said Krishna.

* * *

Larry had just poked a hole on the cake he and his friends were working on, only to let the air out of it.

"Now look what you did, you deflated it!" said Moe, who then proceeded to hit Larry on the forehand, knocking him back into the wall before grabbing the cake out of the oven...with his bare hands!

Moe frantically hurried over to one of the work stations to set down the hot cake and blew on his hands.

"Hey, we better blow it up again." said Larry.

"Yeah, take the gas pipe." ordered Moe.

Larry walked over to a natural gas hose that is located on the wall and started sucking on it.

Moe walked over to Larry, looking very annoyed. "Not you, the cake. I'll kill you later. Poisonally."

He then snatched the gas hose away from Larry and went back to the cake in which he inserted the gas hose and turned to Larry.

"Give her the gas!" said Moe.

Larry then walked over to the gas switch.

"Gas on!" he called out.

"Gas on!" repeated Moe.

"Hey, hurry, they're waiting for the cake." said Curly.

"Oh, take your time!" replied Moe, who then called to Larry. "Gas off!"

"Gas off!" repeated Larry, turning off the gas switch.

That oughta be enough!" said Moe.

"Wait, I'll let ya know." said Curly as he inserted the tire gauge into the cake and took a reading. "Thirty-eight pounds, okay!"

"Maybe somebody will want a second helping!" thought Larry.

"Pump in four more slices." said Moe

"Gas on!" Larry called out.

"Gas on!" repeated Moe.

All the while, Moe and Larry kept inflating the cake with gas, Curly is standing way back, raising his hands and supporting a scared look on his face while the other chefs watched in silence.

"Gas off!" Moe called out.

"Gas off." repeated Larry

Moe removed the gas hose from the cake, as Larry and Curly watched with worried looks on their faces while Moe inserted a tire plug into the hole of the cake.

"There we are," he said. "Put the icing on, we'll bounce it in!"

Curly did as he was told, but while trying to do so, the icing bag began to jam up. Curly picked it up and looked at it with a perplexed look on his face as he is tried to un-jam it. Then in total frustration, Curly gave the icing bag a good hard squeeze to loosen it up, unfortunately squirting Moe right in the face.

Rapunzel couldn't help but chuckle at Moe's icing face.

"Looks like you'll need some help perfecting that cake of yours, huh?" she said as she plucked out some icing off Moe's face with her finger and tasted it.

"Thanks for the offer, Blondie, but we don't need your help." said Moe as he wiped the icing off his face. "We three are capable of getting the job done by ourselves."

"Oh, come on. Just give the girl a chance." said Vickie. "Besides, it'll be more-"

Before she can finish, though, Gothel came out of Chef Adam's office, palming her face.

"Rapunzel, Mother's feeling a little run-down." she said to Rapunzel. "Would you sing for me? In private."

"Oh! Of course, Mother." replied Rapunzel as she followed her mother out the door.

* * *

"What does she mean by feeling a little run-down?" asked Larry. "Was it something we did?"

"Well, not exactly." said Vickie. "Gothel's trying to make an excuse to drag Rapunzel out of our class."

"What are you going on about, granny?" asked Moe.

"Look, the truth is, we believe Gothel is a witch."

"Unh! A witch?" said Curly. "You mean with a pointy hat, broomstick, and a black kitty cat?"

"Not even close." said Krishna. "Have any of you three notice that Gothel looks young every day?"

Moe, Larry, and Curly all shrugged their shoulders.

"Well, from what I hear," explained Krishna. "The Dragon Lady is keeping Rapunzel locked up in the tower on top of JobTrain and she's using her hair to make herself young."

"Hair?" said Moe. "Don't you mean a fountain?"

"No, I meant 'hair.'" replied Krishna. "As a matter of fact, Rapunzel's hair is, like, 70 feet long it has to be bundled up whenever she comes in for class."

"Hair of youth." commented Larry. "Now I've heard everything."

"So she lives in a tower on top of JobTrain, eh?" said Moe, who then turned to Larry and Curly. "Boys, I think it's time we took a little excursion up top."

"Uh, we wouldn't do that if we were you." Krishna called out. "Do you boys have any idea what will happen if Gothel finds you snooping around the tower?"

"We'll take our chances." smirked Moe. "Let's go, boys."

"I don't know, Moe." said Larry. "Maybe we should listen to Krishna."

"Yeah, yeah." agreed Curly.

Once again, Moe didn't care.

"I said 'come on!'" he snapped, dragging Larry and Curly outside.

"They are so gonna get it." commented Krishna.


	5. Big Time Snoopers

Once outside Moe, Larry and Curly climbed up to the top of JobTrain where they saw an enourmous tower in front of them.

"How are we gonna get up there?" asked Larry.

"Why don't you go buy a toupee with some brains in it." said Moe. "We'll climb it. And by 'we,' I meant you."

Curly realized that Moe was talking about him.

"Me? Why me?" he asked.

"Because I said so." said Moe. "Now start climbing!"

Curly looked up the tower to see how long it is, then jumped back.

"Nyaaaa-aaah! Wait a minute! What am I doin'? You know I get dizzy in high places."

"You're dizzy in LOW places!" said Moe, getting into Curly's face. "Get up there!"

"No!" Curly shouted as he shoved Moe away with his stomach.

"Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk." he chuckled.

But when Curly wasn't looking, Moe ran up behind him and hit him squarely in the butt with his foot.

Curly flew up and up until he caught hold of the window ledge.

"That was totally uncalled for, Moe!" he called down.

"Hey, I got you up there, didn't I?" Moe called up.

Suddenly, Curly heard a lovely singing voice from inside the tower

 _Flower, gleam and glow_  
 _Let your power shine_  
 _Make the clock reverse_  
 _Bring back what once was mine_

Curly opened the tower window a teensy bit to find Rapunzel singing, her long hair aglow and brushed by Gothel.

 _Heal what has been hurt_  
 _Change the fates' design_  
 _Save what has been lost_  
 _Bring back what once was mine…_

 _What once was mine_

While seeing what just happened, Curly lost his grip on the ledge and fell all the way down, landing on Moe and Larry, who fell off the top of JobTrain and landed on a tree, right outside the kitchen door.

* * *

"What the heck were you doing up there?" demanded a voice.

The boys looked down to see Chef Adam and the other chefs outside the kitchen.

"Oh, hey, chefy." said Moe.

"Don't you 'Hey, chefy,' me!" replied Chef Adam. "What were you three up to?"

"We tried to stop them, chef." explained Krishna. "They just wouldn't listen to reason."

"Well, if it wasn't for Moe," said Curly. "We wouldn't have found out that Rapunzel _does_ have long hair and her hair glows whenever she...Nyaaaa-aaah! Nyaaaa-aaah! Nyaaaa-aaah! Nyaaaa-aaah!"

That was when a steaming mad Gothel pushed her way through the chefs.

"Now we're in for it." Larry said to Moe and Curly.

"You come down from there, you snoops!" she demanded.

"Nothing doing!" shouted Moe. "We're staying right here."

"Oh, is that so?" said Gothel as she pulled out a chainsaw from her cloak.

Curly realized she was going to cut the tree down. "Nyah! Hey, not that!"

He grabbed Moe and Larry and jumped off the tree.

"I know you three were spying on me and Rapunzel." sneered Gothel.

"How did you know we were-" Larry began before Gothel interrupted him. "I've got eyes all over the building."

"Surveillance cameras all over JobTrain." whispered Vickie.

"And from what I've seen," Gothel went on. "You three didn't learn from the best."

Curly trembled with fear.

"Wha-wha-wha-what are you gonna do with us?" he asked.

"Oh, I have so many ideas, I didn't know how to punish you." said Gothel. "So I've decided that you will stay after class and clean the entire kitchen from top to bottom."

"What?" said the boys.

"But that's not even fair." said Krishna.

"Unless _somebody_ is willing to cancel their plans for tonight." added Gothel.

The chefs knew they didn't want to stay at JobTrain all night.

"No, no. We're good. We're good." They all said.

"Then it's settled." said Gothel before turning to Moe, Larry, and Curly. "You three aren't going anywhere until the kitchen is spick and span. And I want it all done by morning."

"By morning?" repeated Curly. "But that'll takes us forever."

"Well, then I suggest you get started." said Gothel as she left the kitchen.

Once she was gone, Larry turned to the chefs.

"You guys have got to help us." he said. "We can't do this by ourselves."

"Sorry, boys." replied Krishna. "No can do."

"What do you mean 'no can do?'" asked Moe.

"Well, we tried to tell you not to go up there," explained Vickie. "But you just wouldn't listen."

Larry and Curly glared at Moe.

"We really wanted to help you guys," Vickie went on. "But..."

"You mess with the boss," Krishna added. "You get the night shift."

"Precisely." agreed Chef Adam. "And believe us when we tell you that nobody wants to work all through the night."

"Well, can't you just talk to Gothel about it?" asked Larry.

Chef Adam let out a sigh. "I wish it was that simple, boys. I'm sorry."

The chefs followed him inside the kitchen, except for Rapunzel, who felt bad for Moe, Larry and Curly, having to spend the rest of the day cleaning the kitchen.


	6. Dinner Up at the Tower

By the end of the day, everyone gathered up their things and left for home, except for Moe, Larry and Curly, for they were stuck on kitchen cleaning duty.

As they were mopping, Moe hit Curly with his mop.

"This is all your fault!" he said.

"My fault?" said Curly. "How is this my fault?"

"If you hadn't eaten all of the ice cream," explained Moe. "We wouldn't be stuck here in the first place."

"Yeah. What he said." agreed Larry.

"Well, can you help it if I had a big appetite?" asked Curly.

"Oh, you have a big appetite, eh?" said Moe as he held up his mop like a bat. "Well, eat _this_!"

Mow swung his mop at Curly, but he ducked at the last second and the mop hit Larry instead.

"Nyuk, nyuk, nuyk, nyuk, nyuk." chuckled Curly upon seeing Larry's predicament, but not before Moe corked his mouth with the mop.

Curly retaliated by poking Moe in the stomach with the end of his mop and pretty soon, all three of them started fighting when they heard someone whistle at them.

Moe, Larry and Curly turned to see Pascal perched on a deli slicer. In his mouth was a note.

"Aw, hi, little froggie." greeted Curly.

Pascal groaned at the thought of being called a frog and stuck his tongue out at Curly.

"Nyaaaa-aaah! Nyaaaa-aaah!" shrieked Curly as he pulled Pascal's tongue off his face when he noticed the note.

"Hey, what's that?" asked Moe as he snatched the note away from Curly.

He opened the note and started to look through it. Larry looked as well.

"Oh, boy. A dinner party up at the tower." he said.

"Well, I suppose we can't work on an empty stomach." said Moe before turning to Curly. "But you don't deserve to eat!"

Curly crossed his arms at that remark.

"And why not?" he asked.

"Because you got us into enough trouble already." replied Moe. "Now stay here and don't come out til the job's done."

He then grabbed Larry by his hair and dragged him outside.

* * *

Once Moe and Larry climbed up the top of JobTrain, Larry called out, "Hey Blondie! Let down your hair!"

Then, right before them, Rapunzel's long hair cascaded down the tower.

Moe and Larry took hold of it as the tresses were pulled back up.

* * *

"You know, with a view like this," Larry said to Rapunzel once he and Moe were up the tower. "I could see my mother's house from up here."

"Well, I'm glad you would accept my invitation." said Rapunzel when she noticed Curly scampering inside the tower and held onto her very tightly.

"Scared of heights, Curly?" she asked.

Curly nodded his head yes.

"Hey, I told you to stay in the kitchen!" fumed Moe.

"Oh, relax." said Rapunzel. "He's perfectly welcome."

Then she gave Curly a kiss on the forehand. At once, Curly started whooping.

"Very nice joint ya got here." said Larry as he examined the inside of Rapunzel's tower. "What's to eat?"

"Glad you asked." replied Rapunzel. "Tonight's main course is a serving of hazelnut soup and for dessert, I made you a cake."

Moe raised up one eyebrow. "What's this all about, Blondie?" he asked.

Rapunzel let out a sigh. "Look, you guys have been getting off to a bad start and I just wanted to help you."

"Why do we need your help?" asked Moe.

"Because that's what friends do." said Rapunzel. "They help each other out."

Moe, Larry and Curly looked at each other, then at Rapunzel.

"We never helped each other out." said Larry.

"That's because you don't have any self-confidence." replied Rapunzel. "I can help you with that...if you would let me."

Moe, Larry, and Curly looked at each other some more and got into a huddle.

"So, what do you think?" asked Moe.

"Well, to be honest," said Larry. "I think we should let her help us."

"What are ya, a mashugana?" asked Moe.

"Come on, Moe," said Curly. "Give Rapunzel a chance."

"Yeah, she might be our only hope." agreed Larry.

"What do you mean 'only hope?'" asked Moe.

"When was the last time we've been successful in everything?" asked Larry

Moe thought about it.

For years, the boys had been unsuccessful at many odd jobs, due to their various mishaps, and they knew that JobTrain was their last chance to prove themselves worthy in the workforce.

After some thought, Moe finally let out a sigh. "For once, you've got a point, porcupine."

Larry turned to Rapunzel. "Does that include cleaning up the kitchen?"

Rapunzel smiled. That was the answer she was hoping to hear.


	7. Volunteering Partners

When the chefs-to-be walked inside the classroom the next morning, they hardly believe their eyes.

"Oh my goodness." said Krishna.

The kitchen was spick and span and there in the center stood Moe, Larry and Curly.

"Oh, hi, fellas." greeted Curly.

The chefs-to-be didn't know what to say until Vickie finally asked. "How did you manage to get all this done in one night?"

"Well, we had some help." said Larry, who pointed at Rapunzel, who chuckled a little bit. "Surprise."

"You were right, granny." Moe said to Vickie. "We really do need her help."

Vickie smiled.

* * *

After breakfast, the chefs gathered together for today's agenda.

"Now, before we begin, everyone," said Chef Adam, "I think we should give Moe, Larry and Curly a warm round of applause for cleaning the kitchen all night."

As the other chefs clapped, Moe, Larry and Curly looked at Rapunzel, who whispered to them, "It'll be our secret."

The boys smiled.

"Now," Chef Adam went on. "For today's lunch plan..."

Before Chef Adam could announce the lunch plan, Rapunzel quick raised her hand.

"Chef Adam," she asked. "Is it possible that I can work with Moe, Larry and Curly today? They need all the help they can get."

Moe, Larry and Curly couldn't believe their ears when they heard what Rapunzel had suggested.

Chef Adam thought it over.

"Mmm, I suppose so." he said finally. "Make sure they follow all the instructions and..."

Before Chef Adam can continue, though, Rapunzel hurried over to him and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." she said.

Surprised as he was to receive a kiss from Rapunzel, Chef Adam continued with his morning announcement.

"Yes, well, as I was saying, for today's lunch, we will be making.."

Rapunzel skipped back to her seat, just as Larry asked, "Were you even allowed to do that?"

"Do what?" asked Rapunzel.

"Kissing the head honcho on the cheek." said Moe.

"Yeah, that can't be legal." agreed Curly.

"Oh, that's not important." said Rapunzel. "What's important is we get to work together. Isn't that great?"

She let out a squeal of delight.

"So...what do we cook first?" asked Larry.


	8. Hard at Work for Real

Over the next few weeks, Rapunzel taught Moe, Larry, and Curly the proper ways of working in the kitchen.

At first, Moe felt uneasy with Rapunzel while Larry and Curly already took a liking to her. But eventually, he found himself warming up to Rapunzel, thus developing a close friendship with the long-haired girl as he, Larry and Curly contiune to follow each recipe after the other, their cooking skills improving every day.

Even though Gothel was impressed with their improvement, she was still skeptical about Moe, Larry, and Curly befriending Rapunzel.

* * *

One day, all of JobTrain was assembled for a big meeting.

"We are very pleased with their hard work and determination," said Sharon Williams, the executive director. "That we should congratulate and encourage them to keep moving forward. Can the Culinary Arts Program please rise?"

One by one, the chefs rose up from their chairs and followed Chef Adam to the stand as everyone clapped with unanimous approval.

As they stood next to Chef Adam while he delivered his acceptance speech, Rapunzel walked over to Moe, Larry and Curly.

"See," she said. "I tould you it'll be more fun if we worked together as a team."

Although he didn't want to admit it, Moe was happy they did.

"Ah, don't get use to it, Blondie." he said to Rapunzel. "We only did this to be nice."

"Right, sure." said Rapunzel, smiling to herself, for she knew they would need her help again soon.

Gothel walked over to the boys.

"Well, it appears you _did_ learn from the best." she said.

"Oh, thanks, Mommy Gothel." replied Moe before Gothel cut him off, saying. "But you'll have to learn more than that if you want to stay in _my_ kitchen, boys."

Moe, Larry and Curly felt discouraged as she walked out of the assembly room.

"Don't mind her," said Rapunzel. "That's just Mother's way of saying 'keep up the good work.'"

"In a pig's eye." Larry muttered to Moe and Curly, but Rapunzel heard him, feeling unhappy that someone commented about her mother.

"Larry?" she said.

"I mean, what do you guys do?" Larry asked the chefs. "Throw a little party afterwards?"

The chefs looked at each other and smiled.


	9. Good to Be Home on the Range

Before long, everyone gathered together in the kitchen for a slice of pizza. They even rose up their drinks to toast Moe, Larry and Curly for their newfound success.

"Well, boys," said Chef Adam. "I may have had my doubts, but you three have proven to me that you are capable of finding a successful job. As long as you follow my instructions, of course."

"Thanks, chefy." said Moe. "But we can't take all the credit."

"Yeah, we couldn't have done it without Rapunzel." added Larry.

"If it wasnt for her," said Curly. "We wouldn't have been this good at cooking."

Rapunzel felt touched by those words. "Oh, you guys."

She wrapped her arms around her three friends, who hugged her back in return.

"Aww." said the other chefs.

Larry tapped Moe on the shoulder.

"You know this means, do ya, Moe?" he asked.

"You bet I do, porcupine." replied Moe.

"Do any of youse have a piano?" he asked the chefs.

"Wait here," said Krishna. "I'll be right back."

A minute later, she came back with a piano.

"Which song do you want me to play?" she asked.

Larry whispered something into Krishna's ear.

A weird expression crossed her face as she said. "Really? Okay."

Then, Krishna sat down and began to play the piano as Moe, Larry, and Curly began to sing.

 **Moe, Larry and Curly:**  
 _Oh, give me a home_  
 _Where the bread is abloom_  
 _Where the steak and the french fries play_

It was their version of _"Home on the Range,"_ but with food.

 **Curly:**  
 _Where popcorn is heard_  
 _A discouraging word_  
 _And the cakes are not frosty all day_

 **Moe, Larry and Curly:**  
 _Home, home on the range, on the range_  
 _Where the roast and the pies lead to play._  
 _Our apple pie's fine_

 **Curly:**  
 _I'll take custard for mine_

 **Moe and Larry:**  
Oh, custard.

 **Curly:**  
Soitenly!

At that moment, Curly received two pies in the face by Moe and Larry, then all three of them resumed singing.

 **Moe, Larry and Curly:**  
 _And now everything is okay_  
 _Oh, its okay!_

And for Moe, Larry and Curly, it _was_ okay now that they found a place where they can learn to be successful in every way.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **And that concludes the prequel to "Nathan Rosenberg: JobTrainee."**

 **For those of you who have some concerns about this story, please send me your thoughts and I'll send you my answers as soon as possible.**


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